Dewey Gerk looked up at the top of the hill. The hill, like some of the chemotherapy treatments he'd received in the last 10 years, was deceiving. One moment, as the race started, he felt great. The next moment, as time went on and he began to climb the hill, he felt drained, near death even.
He wondered if he would finish the Run 4 Greeley. The top of the hill seemed a little too far away. He wondered at times, too, if he could go on with the treatments, especially after years of feeling sick and tired.
But his family was here, 30 of them, brothers and grandparents and bunches of nieces and nephews and their kids, and so he would finish.
Doctors gave him, at most, a year to live after they diagnosed his rectal/colon cancer in 2003. But he had too much to live for. There were graduations and weddings and first communions. All those family milestones and events like this one, a July 4 race that inspired a family reunion of sorts, were the things that made life worth living.
Gerk, 51, of Greeley, acknowledges that he has Stage 4 cancer, the worst kind. But he doesn't how much time he has left. Gerk, who's carried a dark sense of humor far longer than the death sentence doctors assigned to him, likes to say he's in denial about his disease. But sometimes ignorance really is bliss, or in his case, it may mean some additional years. He's had Stage 4 since he was diagnosed.
"I've never asked," Gerk said. "I don't want to know. I can't live like that."
Gerk may mean that literally.
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May God continue to bless him and his family. My Dad had the same - he lasted six years. It's a horrible disease, just horrible. I will keep Mr. Gerk in my prayers.
ReplyDelete6 years, another fighter! I just told someone who helps me out at Dixieland that even though he had stage 4 cancer, to just keep his chin up and fight. For some reason, attitude does make a difference. I told him I had beaten the Big "C" twice, so far, so keep the faith.
DeleteMy Dad just let it go too far before he went to the doctor. If he gone sooner he could have been cured. So glad to hear that you've overcome that devil twice, Mr. Townsend. You are so right that attitude and awareness towards the disease is more than half the battle. I've seen it happen many, many times.
DeleteI remember the first time while I was waiting to see the doctor for the results, I thought: I hope he gives me 6 months so I can have a really good time!:)
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I became hoarse at the beginning of the summer in 1974 and each time I went to the Embassy doctor, he told me not to worry about it. I could still give briefings, but my voice cracked badly. Finally I went to a Vietnamese doctor who told me that I needed to leave the country right away for medical treatment. My doctor at Camp Kue Army Hospital had graduated from my military school after me! I found out later that if you are hoarse for more than two weeks, go to a specialist. After I was diagnosed, as I have mentioned in another piece, I went to the Makati Medical center in Manila for my *cobalt. I was there during Christmas and bought my tree at the Embassy PX in Manila. I spent many months there, and will make that time a separate posting.